Hale v. Committee On Character And Fitness For The State Of Illinois

335 F.3d 678 (7th Cir. 2003)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

Hale (P) is a public advocate of white supremacy and the leader of an organization (formerly called the World Church of the Creator) dedicated to racism and anti-Semitism. P seeks to be admitted to practice law in the state of Illinois. The Illinois State Bar requires applicants to demonstrate proficiency in the law on a written bar examination and to pass a character and fitness exam. The Committee on Character and Fitness (D) found him unfit to practice law. P challenged that determination before the Illinois Supreme Court and then the Supreme Court of the United States, claiming among other things that D had violated his First Amendment rights by acting solely on the basis of his viewpoints. Unsuccessful, D turned to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois with a fresh lawsuit again raising his First Amendment claim, among other constitutional challenges. The district court concluded, in part, that the Rooker-Feldman doctrine did not permit it to review the earlier decision of the Illinois Supreme Court. P appealed.